Kerry and Nader, sitting in a tree? Deep down in the deepest heart of my hearts I hope that Kerry will view Nader less as a strategic liability than as an inspiration. Not so much the man, mind you, but the things he talks about.

As I've said before, I'm uncomfortable with Ralph running this time because of his lack of party affiliation (which was a major reason I was enthusiastic about him last time) but the other merit his campaign has is the potential to pull the Democratic party (including Kerry) towards so many of its supporters (leftward). Surely Kerry has noticed that Nader is polling as high as 7% nationwide right now. I hope he's thinking, when he sees this number, "What do these respondents want from a candidate?" rather than "How can I get these people to fall in line?" If he offers these potential Nader voters something to vote for, rather than trying to shame them into voting for him, then I suspect he'll get most or all of them rather easily. He could get me like that and I'd even make him breakfast after.

Mind you, it is not at all clear if Ralph is capable of considering the implications of this. Kerry might become SuperRalph, but Ralph may well be stubborn/arrogant/blind enough to soldier on regardless.

In any event, I could almost stomach McCain as SecDef if Nader gets a similarly key position. Quid pro quo, and all that.

Actually, that would be quite a coup for old Johnny. He might even get Karl Rove to vote for him.